The Mixtape of Tuesday Night
by thoughtpolice
Summary: All Craig wants is a second chance with Tweek. But when he ends up receiving help from Kenny, all he gets is one hell of a night.
1. Track one

Hi guys. So a couple of things before I leave you all to read. In this AU fic, Craig and Kenny (and any other character present) are in their very early 20's with their own apartments and such. Also, the places in this fic might also not suit the "small town" setting, but bare with me. It's makes this adventure a tad more interesting :) ** And last but not least, this fic is composed like a mixtape. Each chapter will have it's own track that supports the plot. Feel free to check out the songs~ sorry for the ramble. Reviews greatly appreciated. :)  
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* * *

_"If life is a movie, then it should at least come with a soundtrack."_**  
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**Track One: **Dawn of the Dead**  
**

Somewhere off in the distance, behind a couple of walls, my alarm clock was ringing, and the first rays of sunlight were barely peeping through the blinds of the kitchen window. If I hadn't been sleepwalking lately, doing awful weird stuff Clyde insists I do sometimes, then that alarm was notifying me that it was 4:30 in the morning; the time I drag my ass up to get to work. But I was already awake and way ahead of that nasally son of a fuck clock that was probably dancing it's way to the corner of my drawer. I chuckled slightly at that inner small, almost victorious feeling of imagining it tipping over the edge, striking the cold wooden floor with a loud thud.

Evil, you might say. Poor clock didn't do a thing to me. Well, don't imagine it, but the bitterness towards that old clock was actually a rebound off my own pity. I was sitting on wet tile, leaning against my refrigerator and squinting at the bright orange light glaring at me through the slits of the blinds. It would be more pitiful if I told you the wetness of the tile was piss but in fact it was the yellow fizz of a spilled Corona beer. And to make this a much more sad picture, I was just sitting there, letting it sink into the fabric of my jeans and stick to the sides of my hands.

It was Tuesday morning, barely into the week but I was already deciding work was just not on my schedule. So I let the alarm ring and ring and ring, up until it actually did land on the floor with a triumphant smack. I clicked my tongue, feeling my eyes tear up from the strong stench of beer and the awful bright sunlight. And amidst the sound of my clicking tongue, echoing between my cheeks, and the cold feeling of my boxers sticking to my ass, I began to frown. Then I remembered that just a few hours ago, I had gotten dumped. And god, did the sunlight begin to feel like fire from hell.

Relationships, what funny things they are.

But I was kind of tired from sniffling all night and rubbing my wet eyelashes. And I was tired of trying to think where I had gone wrong. (By at least two in the morning I had decided to let the beer do all the thinking.) And truthfully, I was already starting to get tired of just sitting on my ass.

With a sour burp that almost pushed my gag reflex to it's limit, I swayed side to side feeling that prickly feeling beneath my thighs, and reluctantly stood up, gripping the fridge's handlebar for support. The kitchen seemed to twirl around me, making my vision zoom in and out of focus in a rapid manner that kept me in my place for a good while. When I got a hold of myself I stumbled into the living room and hissed at the painfully loud volume of the television, gleaming in the dimness of it all. Fucking television. I flopped into my couch and reached for the remote, cursing lightly before cutting the soap opera short of it's time.

Then, once again, I just sat there.

But you know what? I could go on right now and just spew some endless bullshit of how I just sat there for a good few hours feeling nothing but the rough brick in my throat and the strong punch in my gut. Or the horrible scent that started to grow from the drying beer, and the way I blinked constantly and hard, shredding my bottom lip in hopes that those fucking tears would not arise again. Yeah, I could sit here and say I was a douche for whatever the hell reason was that Tweek left me for. I could say I walked over to my room, pulled out a pen and pad from my drawer and wrote 100 reasons why he shouldn't be with me. And then continued it with 200 reasons of why it didn't fucking matter because we loved each other.

I could say it. And I could believe it. But nothing kept mr. reality from telling me none of that was true. Because the truth was that I just sat there. And maybe cried a bit. Then by the time I knew it, the clock was striking six in the afternoon and my boxers were stiffer than I had ever been.

I took a quick shower and boom, I was heading back to the couch.

I still felt weak. And the vomit lingering too long in my stomach was bound to come up anytime soon. But before I could sit my lovely ass on the couch, I felt my phone vibrate loudly on the kitchen table.

_Shit, my boss is gonna trip_. But I flipped it open to see a text message instead.

**From:** McFuck

**Sent: **6:45 pm

Romeo o Romeo,

wherefore art thou Romeo?

I still wonder why I decided to spell McCormick like that.

For the first time in that day, I let my lips curl into a small smirk. Not a smile, I was kind of stubborn like that. I texted back:

_"Funny, I just got dumped."_

Cause really, that kid knew how to babble all the wrong things at the wrong time. I stopped myself from frowning again and searched my fridge for a can of beer. I came back irritated with a gallon of milk and decided to never buy a six pack without buying a spare one just in case.

**From:** McFuck

**Sent:** 6:55 pm

Oh. Um, oops?

Come over for some

comforting hugs.

I wasn't in the mood to come out. Really, I just wanted to head upstairs and crawl under my bed and pull the covers over and around my head until I couldn't breathe. But coincidentally, I hadn't seen this guy in a long time. Then I tried not to remember the reason was because little Craig jr. was playing and having a good time with Tweek under the covers. I took a long hard swig of the milk gallon and shook my head free of those thoughts. I needed to get out if I was anywhere near planning to recuperate. I considered my options and realized that if I didn't go out, I'd be looking at a night filled with Red Racer re-runs, soggy cereal, and head bashing against the wall. So I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck (you know, just to pump me up a bit) and strolled to the front door.

Then I suddenly remembered that sick feeling in my stomach and the memo that pilots of vomit were headed up my throat. I ran to the bathroom, threw up, brushed my teeth, and then headed out to McCormick's apartment.

If I only fucking knew this was the beginning of a long, long night...


	2. Track two

**Track Two:**Every Teardrop is a Waterfall

He wore key pendant necklaces, hanging low over his torn white-tees or the wrinkled fabric of his orange parka. There were dozens of them, probably hundreds for every day of the week. Friends called it an obsession. Others called it an addiction and dropped it in the category of 'very concerning matters' along with his collection of exotic pine cones and useless blank cassettes. I simply called it "A Kenny thing."

"_Here's a fun fact. People get dumped everyday._"

Today it was a silver key, bound together with the body of an emerald snake wrapped tightly around to the top where it's head pointed upwards in a menacing way. I hadn't seen it before which contributed to the eerie theory that he probably did in fact have hundreds of them. And where the hell he got them from was another odd mystery. Either way, it suited him and his stupid white v-neck shirt that rode up his sides as he leaned on the door frame.

"What happened to that comforting hug?" I muttered, slipping past him with a slight frown and entering his apartment. I could hear him snicker.

Let's roll on to some quick facts.

First being that this wasn't actually Kenny's apartment. It was Kyle's. He just had been crashing there and modifying it at his own will long enough to make it seem like it _**was**_. And trust me, this apartment had seen better days; where the scratched up floor was a polished chestnut brown and the walls weren't cascaded in a splatter of mixed blues and greens. Kenny called it art, sometimes, and others he'd refer to it as the one-time hobby of releasing some stress.

Although, the wall wasn't as noticeable when you greeted the numerous bookshelves pressed up against the walls of almost every room; courtesy of Broflovski. That was a little hard in getting use to. It took me some effort just to not run my fingers along the spines of every book before flinging them all off one by one and admiring the pile they could've made around my feet. They looked useless anyways. Most were thick with blank covers and others carried titles that made me want to yawn and dedicate a nap to the sheer fact that I would never have to read something like that in my entire life.

"I have beer in the fridge." The floor creaked, absorbing the weight of Kenny's steps and he let his arms drape over my shoulders from behind, hands locking lazily by my chest. He was an odd kid with a witty mouth and a taste for wild, destructive things. Somehow, this both annoyed and frightened me. Yet it also managed to make us close friends.

Go figure.

With an end to that thought, I agreed to some beers and we headed into the kitchen for a bottle or two. Once we satisfied ourselves with the cold crisp taste of liquor we sat in the corner of his living room atop Kyle's navy bean couch that sunk us deep into the middle with our backs to each other. And for a moment we just sat there, silent. There was an evident difference, although, from the silence of home with the silence I then shared with Kenny. For one, I couldn't bring myself to think of my breakup. I was leaning against him, breathing in the scent of old books and acrylic paint, sitting in an awfully comfortable couch made of tiny foam balls. And, that was it. I was comfortable, letting the liquor ease into my system. And for a moment, it just felt fucking nice.

"Ya know, Tweek was a good guy."

Then I remembered, I hadn't seen Kenny in three weeks.

"Don't." I mumbled tiredly, feeling the taste of Budlight go sour in my mouth. "I don't want to talk about it."

Kenny laughed and for once it felt good to hear someone laugh. As long as it wasn't Tweek's laugh. As long as it was him who was sitting back to back with me on this soft mushy couch. Again, don't imagine this but I felt like one of those sulky kids walking out of his favorite toy-store empty handed. I was torn because seriously, after two fucking years of thinking nothing could've gone wrong, suddenly I'm left with a guilty look and a short good-bye. It was sudden, and before I could even control or begin to wonder how it all fell apart, Tweek was walking out my door and out of my life.

"You sound like a sad, sad child." Kenny pouted childishly, nudging me off his shoulder. He stood up and made his way back into the kitchen where he called back out, "Tell me this tragic fairy tale of yours."

Although this kid spent most of his time in the pants of some other guy's chick or behind the desk of the Judge's courtroom, there was one noticeable bent in his colorful spectrum of characteristics.

He didn't believe in love.

"Was he one of those...'**he's the one**' type of boyfriends?"

Maybe it wasn't that noticeable. Either way, I assumed he didn't believe in love mostly because he never really allowed himself to find out what it truly was. But what he did believe in was the occasional fling with one guy or gal to the next. Honestly though, I stopped counting how many flings he actually had. It didn't matter, anyways.

"You know, it sounds stupid when you put it that way." I said.

"It's stupid in any way." I could sense that smirk on his face.

"Why am I even listening to you?"

"I'm trying to _comfort you_."

When it came to love, we never understood each other.

He reappeared with two bottles of beer and some cupcakes. I shifted on the bean couch and reached for a bottle, taking a long cooling sip before leaning back and letting myself sink into what felt like a comfortable void of foam and polyester. Kenny fixed himself on the floor and licked the around the frozen icing of the chocolate pastry.

"So where's Fabio?" I smirked slightly, hearing Kenny grunt in faint disgust. Fabio was the last guy I had seen him with. He was tall like big foot, built like the hulk, and went about with long sandy hair which I compared to the Italian model Fabio. Hell knows what the guy's real name was.

"It's been over since September" He smiled at me in a self-congratulatory way. He was no way near fooling me. It was halfway through October and I could already tell Fabio was out of the 'recently dated' list. Hell, you'd probably have to scroll down a few pages before bumping into that guy again. But thinking this kind of made me feel awful, and sort of guilty about what I thought about behind Kenny's back. Maybe Tweek really did leave me heartless.

"Craig, could you stop pouting like a fucking baby?" Kenny eyed me weirdly. "It's hard to eat a cupcake seeing you like that."

Which is when it hit me, like a helpless leaf caught in the moment of it's free-fall by a speeding freight train. Tweek was really **gone**. _It's alright, shit happens, you'll move on._ I kept telling myself that but I hadn't really felt the full hit, until now. And fuck, it felt like the air in me had been kicked out. For a moment I stayed silent, licking my dried lips until the room began to blur and zoom out of focus. I sucked in a mouthful of air and tasted the overly-sweet icing of the cupcakes and felt the beer fizz and gurgle in my stomach.

"Craig...are you okay?"

I threw up on Kyle's comfy bean couch.

* * *

Kenny was laughing again and I felt the soothing pats and rubs on my lower back. He had terrible timing with these kinds of things. He might had dated a hell lot of more people that me but boy was he shit when it came to the seriousness of relationships. I was curled up on the couch, glaring at the floor and still pouting like a helpless creep. He was babbling on about Hamlet and comparing me to god knows how many whiny Shakespearean characters. And even though I was pretty positive that he had no fucking idea about what he was saying, all I could do was just lay there and listen to him.

"Which can somewhat be related to how much of a slut Romeo actually was. Screw what others say. That fucker had his dick so far up-"

"Kenny..." I grunted lowly fixing my gaze on the window in front of me. "You're not making sense."

Kenny looked down at me with a raised brows. "I am making sense. It's just not really relevant to your situation. Is that what you meant?"

He had a shitty view of the city from his window.

"No. I meant 'shut the hell up'."

_~and all the kids they dance, all the kids all night, until Monday morning feels another life..._

"Well, there's goes my cellphone again." Kenny sighed. The tune rose from a certain spot but quickly dissolved into the air above us.

"Pick it up."

"That's just it though Craigster, I don't know where it is. I've been looking for it for hours. So far I've had five chances." He chuckled and rose to his feet, following the sound of the ring tone. But even for me it was hard to decipher where exactly it was coming from.

"I wish I had five chances." I sighed, picturing the last time I had Tweek in my apartment, grinning lovingly from beneath the covers of my bed.

"Fucking hell, Tucker" Kenny groaned, irritably. "Alright, get up." He said striding over and pulling the hoodie of my sweater.

"W-what?" I asked, confused, and reluctantly stood up.

"You want another chance? Tweek is going to be at the theater today with Clyde and some other bro's."

Insert my strangely bewildered and blank face here.

"Dammit man, it's like I'm talking to my ballsack!"

To this day, even if it was just a petty and stupid remark, I still believe that was uncalled for.

"You're talking to a guy who just got dumped! After two fucking years!"

"And you're talking to a guy who hasn't gotten laid in almost three days. Both very tragic stories." Kenny began to chuckled although I could tell he was trying to contain most of the cackle in my defense. At this point, I really had no clue where he was going with this. Until he gripped my shoulders and rocked me lightly; his way of showing reassurance. "Look, it's difficult to know whether someone will give you another chance if you don't give yourself one first."

"How poetic. So what the hell are you saying?"

"I'm saying we walk out that door and you ask Tweek for a second chance." He smiled.

If I had thought about it more thoroughly, I would've said no. Here I was, getting a bit dizzy from the beer and a little jumpy from the sugary icing and all I heard in Kenny's words were '_did ya hear that Craig? Another fucking chance! Take it! Take it!_' If I had taken a little more time to think about it, it would've sounded stupid, unbelievable, and an uncool level of desperate. But no. I was wounded, sensitive and at this point gullible to anything positive involving Tweek.

So I nodded, trying to contain my excitement and growing anxiety. Kenny slapped my shoulder proud fully and marched back into kitchen for another case of cupcakes. I would've settled for beer but...cupcakes did just fine.

We saluted ourselves (a foolish habit developed from jrotc in our early years of highschool) and headed out his apartment and into the cool night.

Then it was just Kenny, me, and the long night ahead of us.


	3. Track three

**Track Three: **Animal

Kenny's car had been destroyed. Which is why we came to find ourselves entering an empty garage behind the apartment building.

"Mhm. That's odd." was his first reaction, followed by a few blinks and a short awkward silence in which I took the time to notice I had put on the exact same shirt I wore the day Tweek and I first had...well, it didn't matter now. Kenny began to chuckle loudly, muttering under his breath about the night he had too much Red Bull and woke up on the front steps of his Great Aunt's house. He had been with Fabio at that time and apparently his car was still back at the auto shop, waiting to be repaired or more accurately, already under construction.

"I'll tell you the story one day." He sighed nostalgically, chewing the thin chain of his key necklace. The garage stunk of spilled oil and gasoline with a bit of foul smelling fertilizer, courtesy of the senior couple that lived on the first floor. So I pulled Kenny out, agreeing to one day sit in the passenger seat of his black ford and listen to him talk on about how surprisingly wise he had been with the decisions made on that hyper-active night.

The sky was just beginning to darken and we were barely making our way out of the neighborhood and onto the busy streets, heading towards the theater. It was going to be a long walk, I realized with a slight grimace, and checked my phone to see that time was well on it's way to hitting 8:30. Kenny nibbled swiftly through his cupcake, walking casually and a little bit behind me. This kid was striding smoothly, I tell you. Of course, he had no actual intentions of finding Tweek, nor was he looking for any sort of "chance". He was just along for the ride. So I understood the slight suave walk he had going on. I accepted with a faint chuckle too, merely for the fact that nibbling briskly on a cupcake made him look like a famished hamster.

"We need to stop by the mall for a bit." He called out suddenly while we ran across the streets, dodging beeping vehicles because we felt like interrupting the green light. I said nothing but turned back to shoot him a questioning look.

"Just for something small. Something important." He said and pulled me towards the general direction of the mall we were now headed to.

* * *

"Really?" I managed to say, if there was anything else to say at all. Kenny leaned on the ATM machine, poking around at the touchable screen until he cashed out a twenty and wriggled it excitedly between his fingers for me to see.

Popcorn. The "something small" and "something important" he mentioned before had turned out to be popcorn. And the bill he waved with a childish grin was going to fund that little treat.

"Mall popcorn is the best popcorn." He said boastfully, tucking the bill into the pockets of his black jeans and beginning his journey down the crowded halls. I had no other choice but to follow him. He was taking me to the theaters on foot and it'd be hard to say that without him I'd know exactly where I was going. For it to be actually true, I would've had to walk my ass all the way back home and googled that shit up, probably even print the directions. And that would've wasted a good chunk of time. So I followed him up the river of shopping-spree ladies and meddling teenagers and tried to focus on anything but having to encounter Tweek once more.

Because truth was, I was getting a little too anxious for my own good. The thought of having to see Tweek again both thrilled yet embarrassed me. After all, Tweek was the one that left me and had me banished from his life. Well, the last bit was partially untrue. He had mentioned something about staying friends but I overheard it at the time because I was too busy kicking the dirt off the ground in frustration. Tweek had ended the relationship and I was the one who stormed off like a dour child. I was a pitiful sight, I'll tell you that but, I was in love. And that was the only explanation I kept giving myself, even if it did sound to melodramatic for my taste.

"Get him a thong."

I couldn't think seriously around this kid. Really.

"Get your popcorn and lets go." I grunted as we reached a fairly sized stand near the corner of the mall where two hallways intercepted. I leaned sluggishly on the counter, peering about for a clerk of some sort. It was empty.

"I'm serious though." I heard him say in that cunningly way of his. He was messing with his dirty blonde locks, eying ahead with taunting interest. I turned halfway back before I noticed the broad windowpane display of lingerie. Victoria's Secret nonetheless. I couldn't help but release a flat chuckle.

"You're fucking ridiculous." I muttered and looked at the empty glass container near the register, with the glittering words 'fresh popped popcorn'. Well, so much for that. "There's no popcorn. Let's go."

"A heartily percent of lovers tend to react a whole lot gentler when their partner buys them something saucy and flirty." Kenny grinned slyly with a small wink. "Like lingerie."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's right if the lover's a girl." I rolled my eyes, exhaling disgustedly at the bitter sweet smell of pretzels and jalapeno peppers.

"Tweek's not a girl?"

"Any other jokes McCormick?" I snapped annoyingly receiving nothing but a slow shrug and a smug smile.

"Maybe. You haven't really told me the whole tale yet." He was bending over the counter with his wide blue eyes searching about. "You know, about how the bride left the groom at the altar." He let his arms wander about beneath the counter, shoving what sounded like cans, bottles and packets. If he was stealing, I was that stupid to just hunch over behind him and watch.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Dude, swallow your self pity and sorrow for a bit, yeah?" He turned a bit to smirk at me. He rose one of his hands and shook a packet of corn kernels. I realized he'd been to this place quite too many times.

"Put that back, they'll think you're stealing it." I tugged at his shirt but he was well on his way to ripping the packet open and dipping the kernels into the pan inside the glass container.

"It's not stealing." He put it simply and ran his hands over the glass in search of, I assumed, a switch or button to turn the damn thing on. Yes, I still stood there and watched. "I'm just helping the obviously absent employee do his or her job."

"They're probably taking their break."

"Do you see a sign? It's standard rule and regulation to put a sign if you run a stand and are off at break."

"Maybe they forgot to."

"Maybe they're off fucking one of those Victoria's Secret employees behind a bathroom stall."

There was never was a chance of winning this kid over. So I shut my mouth and glanced around the mall, trying to appear casual in midst of a wrongdoing and failing terribly. But let me tell you something, that shit's hard. I understand those t.v characters completely now. You find yourself feeling queasy and your hands begin to clam up because suddenly there's a hundred pairs of eyes staring at you, pointing their finger and shaking their head "tsk, tsk". And everyone begins to look like an undercover cop, ready to swing at you with their truncheons and lock you in cuffs...

So to keep myself from panicking, I ended up staring at the window display filled with headless mannequins and laced bras. That didn't make me look like a creeper at all.

"You're thinking about it." I heard Kenny say.

An employee gave me a flirty smile through the window and she got the wrong idea. I turned to Kenny who was leaning on his elbows, biting his lower lip gently.

"Thinking about what?"

"Getting Tweek that thong."

Kenny also got the wrong idea.

I heard popping and the strong scent of butter. The kid found the freaking switch.

"Okay, the thought alone is really disturbing. Stop." I hung my head back tiredly but closing my eyes was no help at all. I would never admit it to Kenny but for those brief seconds or so, I actually imagine Tweek in lingerie. The thought was not disturbing. Far from it in fact.

Kenny laughed for the twentieth time that day. I was beginning to wonder how it hadn't annoyed me yet.

"You must've really loved him."

"Do I need to remind you of the two years I've been with him?"

He rose a brow, shaking his head lightly. "How do you remind me of something you've never talked to me about before?"

I still hate his endless wit.

"You want me to tell you the whole story?"

His eyes lit up with curiosity and he nodded his head eagerly.

"Fine. I guess we have time for a love story." I agreed, eying him with a mocking smile. "Something you're not familiar with."

"What, love?" His eyes went round and if I'm not mistaken, I think he took some insult to it. "Yo, I am fully fucking aware of the definition of love, okay?" He stepped closer, leaning in with a bold look. "And let me assure you it's nothing but a cheap fantasy that dwells deep in the pit of our callow souls."

It was my turn to laugh. I was betting every last penny he got the last part from Broflovski or one of his dusty books.

"And you have no clue about what you just said." I smirked. "Don't you know love has no definition?"

"Well Google says otherwise, motherfucker." Kenny smiled smugly. "Love is nothing but slow rhythmic sex and being clingy twenty-four seven."

"I love how terrible you are at this." I chuckled, slinging an arm around him tauntingly.

"I'm not the one who got dumped."

And he blew me a kiss. That son of a bi-

I would tell you right now that this was the part where I punch him square in the nose, hard and good. But no, it didn't happen. Instead...

POP.

_POP._

_ .__**POP**_

I felt something fling into my hair and I flinched slightly. I dragged my arm off Kenny's shoulder and turned around. But dammit if only I had done that sooner.

I was now staring at an overflowing waterfall of buttery popcorn, spilling out the glass container and onto the counter and over the freakin' counter and every other possibly direction I could've conjured up at the moment. My mouth hung so low in disbelief that I had to poke Kenny to just to get his attention toward the avalanche of yellow popping treats.

"Holy fucking tits." was his initial response.

And then we just stood there, side by side watching the popcorn fling in every direction, and into our hair and onto the floor. Yeah, we stared like deers in headlights. Well actually, he stood like a deer in headlights. I was just shocked. And there was that awkward moment where neither of us had an explanation of how this had happened and neither of us had any clue of what to do.

Then we heard security.

"Hey! You two!"

"Funny, I'm not in the mood for popcorn anymore." Kenny laughed weakly and turned to me with a sheepish look.

"I hate you McCormick." I sighed.

* * *

And then we ran.

It wasn't long before we were caught by security.

But in fact, we had a good distance from them before a couple of gals carrying a loadful of bags decided to appear right before our eyes, knocking us all to the floor with new bought clothes, lotions, and perfumes falling and scattering about.

So they took our pictures and kicked us out, marking our first ever mall we were never to step foot in again. I thanked Kenny for it but I doubt he heard me. On our way out he ranted on about the corrupt system of mall rules and other crap I didn't give two shits about.

"And the fuckheads need to get a better head of security before...WHOA, hey." He stopped in his tracks, tugging me to a stop as well. "Isn't that Clyde?"

At the mention of his name I quickly surveyed the area because the first thought that came to my head was "if there's a Clyde, there's a Tweek". I spotted him crossing the parking lot, heading to his car but to my disappointment and surprisingly some relief, Tweek wasn't there.

"You said Tweek was going to be with him."

"He was." Kenny confirmed. "Guess we gotta run after him and see what happened."

He pulled something out of his pocket and flung it into my hands.

"Here, keep this with you." He smirked and ran towards the direction of Clyde's car. I unfolded the piece of cloth and turned a bright shade of red.

It was a laced panty.

Fucking hell. What was I getting in to?


	4. Track four

**Track Four: **Ottoman

I kept the panty in the back pocket of my jeans for a reason that still today doesn't make quite much sense.

During our little clash with the indie teens at the mall, Kenny's hand had brushed upon the black lace lingerie as the oversized Security guards wobbled toward us with their useless flashlights, holding them in a grip far above their shoulders as if they were aiming to bash our brains down our throats. They didn't of course, they took our picture as I mentioned before and scolded us like misbehaved kindergarteners. So Kenny bit his lip to keep from laughing and stole the poor gal's undergarments for the sake of his own crude humor. And he gave it to me.

But more on that later.

We found out Clyde was on his way to a local bar. Much to our surprise (well, mostly mine) Tweek had backed out at the last minute, leaving me and Kenny with a useless trip to the theater. Apparently, he wasn't into the horror genre so the idea of going to the movies to watch Insidious was out of the question. Clyde had shrugged it off easily and instead, called up his boys for a good old time at the bar. So while I began to pout and unconsciously glare at Clyde for reasons beyond my own feelings of self defeat, Kenny gave us a quick-fact lecture on a boy's night out at the bar.

According to him, there were three kinds of bars and a total of three corresponding reasons as to why a young adult male would venture into the luxury of them.

"First, you have the bars in clubs." He jumped into the back seat, inconveniently at the same time I slumped in, causing our heads to bump roughly against each other. He continued with a short laugh while I groaned and soothed the aching spot. "Which means the guys you find there are the guys that are feeling lucky."

"Feeling lucky eh?" Clyde wiggled his brows as he pulled out of the parking lot. Let me tell you now, I was the only one sporting a dead expression. Clyde on the other hand loved hearing, and I quote, "Kenny's sophisticated talks".

"Manly men who wanna get some."

Only Clyde would think that's sophisticated.

"So the players and the pimps and the cheaters and the one night standers." I butt in with my famous unenthusiastic tone. I caught Kenny smirking at me through the corner of my eye. I decided to watch the lovely buildings and trees pass by.

"Secondly, you have the grill and bar." He continued, leaning forward and resting his chin lazily on the back of Clyde's seat while his hands roamed about the dashboard for some double mint gum. "Those kind of guys are just hungry and looking for a place to chill and kickback."

"Maybe watch Sunday football." I added and flashed Kenny a small smile. He chewed on his gum thoughtfully before nodding in full approval.

"Gamers. Eaters..."

"All nighters?" Clyde joined. Kenny clapped approvingly.

"You're catching on." He patted his back and yeah, you could say Clyde had one of those childish smiles on, like he just won the goddamn spelling bee. "And last but not least, you have the local bars."

"Plain old bars." I said and completely missed the last purplish specks of the evening disappear into the black sky.

"Guys who go there are in socially awkward positions." Kenny chuckled.

"Wha...whaaaat?" Clyde took that as an insult. Kenny gained the kudos of having the balls to say it.

"Meaning there's nothing but drunks and phony tough guys searching for some meaning in their life." Kenny shrugged carelessly, leaning in close to tease Clyde around his ear. "Or maybe some sex."

"Someone just get this kid laid already." I rolled my eyes, beginning to feel a bit drowsy.

"Well...there is a bunch of drunks always complaining about divorce or their crappy jobs." Clyde considered with a thoughtful look.

"Exactly." Kenny added, flicking his ear slightly.

"But me. I'm not socially awkward."

"Nah." Kenny shook his head. "But your friends may be."

"And you?"

"Oh, I'm just heading down there for this young lad." He patted my shoulder lightly, giving me one of his knowing grins. I shrugged him off annoyingly and began to wonder just how exactly I agreed on going to the bar.

"HA, Craig is socially awkward?" Clyde laughed.

"Shut up, Clyde. You've known me for-" I began and Kenny interrupted.

"We're chasing his ex, what do you think?" He smiled and looked at me like I was some poor kid with glue and glitter all over his face. More accurately, he stared like I was some bulky cat in a pirate costume. You know, that sort of "aw, you poor thing" look.

"Oh shit dude, Tweek broke up with you?" Clyde turned back with that stupid look of disbelief. I just loved how he automatically assumed I was the one who got dumped. That's what bro's are for huh?

"I consoled him with a few beers and cupcakes." Kenny patted my head, to which I responded with my middle finger.

"You okay, bro?" Clyde frowned.

"What is this? The loveline show?" I deadpanned. "Fuck off."

"So...you're not okay?"

I sunk further into the seat and pretended I hadn't heard that.

* * *

As Kenny predicted, most of the people at the bar were drunk, tired and sneering at anyone who came within a foot radius of where they sat.

It was, in fact, a small local bar just off the corner of one of the busy streets . It sat under a broad building which held many other small convenient stores along the bottom and it's cracked walls made it easy to believe that it had both suffered and more likely withstood days and years worth of serving old chaps like the ones that sat in it now. It was hard to breathe properly. The second we entered I felt like I had walked into a cloud, an actual cloud from the sky, only with a foul smell of cheap cigarettes, foreign cigars, and a pinch of bad body odor.

Somewhere in my head, I thought, this was the underground world of corporate business and all the other crap that made up the country I now lived in. This was the face lying under the porcelain mask and in true honesty, I thought it looked like shit. My grandfather mentioned before, the structure of something beautiful never is without the tired, grotesque entity of which is was made from. It fit the picture well, if you catch my drift.

"Scotch for the groom looking for his runaway bride." Kenny pushed the glass into my chest with a deviant smile. Clyde was greeting his friends, coincidentally some fellas I recognized from an evening of bowling a year or so back. We sat at the booth near the back by the billiard tables and I accepted the scotch with a diffident grunt.

It was past ten by the time the guys were involved in a senseless drinking game.

I avoided any sort of participation and instead set my gloomy gaze to the bar upfront, where, to my unwanted despair, I found a Guinness shirt framed up on the wall. Tell you why I frowned at the very sight of it: I had a shirt like that once and Tweek use to always wear it the morning's he slept over my apartment. He felt comfortable in it, he once told me. Partly because it was extra large and he basically swam in it, but it was...cute. Provocative, even, due to the fact that it was the only thing he wore in the morning and when curled up next to me on the couch, it would ride up to the tip of his thighs, in the most perfect teasing way.

Now all I had was this shirt, flipping me the bird and reminding that all those moments were gone and nothing but a fucking memory.

"To the pool table!" Clyde chimed loudly and there were drunken cheers and stumbles towards the billiard near our booth. Kenny stayed behind, eying my untouched shots arranged perfectly in a circle in front of my fidgeting hands. I felt the nicotine attack my throat and I had the strange itchy temptation to cough obnoxiously loud. I also had a feeling, Kenny was about to lecture me.

"Oh you fucking pansy..."

And oh, he did.

"I have a weak bladder." I mumbled shamefully, looking down at the shots of liquor. They were eying me back, tauntingly.

"Let me guess, you don't like using public restrooms."

"I don't."

"You have peed in many public places before, shut up."

"I don't feel like drinking."

"It's the solution to that stupid frown on your face. Now drink up." He took a hold of a glass and slid it forward. He proceeded with a long talk of the purpose and consumption of alcoholic beverages, which to my displeasure had me actually wanting to take the whole seven shots in one gulp just to be able to fully comprehend the underlying moral to this lecture. Or maybe just get drunk to not give a damn about what he was saying. But I pulled through it and ended up slapping a hand over his pouty lips, begging him to one, use standard english around me and two, never to lecture me on petty things like alcohol when there were bigger issues at hand.

"I don't want to end up like them." I motioned to the beings in stained ties and wrinkled suits. Kenny bit my palm and released his wit once more.

"You're no different then them, dude. Apart from the fact that they are actually _doing_ something to loosen themselves up."

I grunted impatiently, pulling off my hat and running a hand through my hair tiredly. "First you tell me to search for a second chance. Now you're telling me to give up. Which one is it assfuck?"

"Oh, calm your dick." Kenny said.

"NO. I'm still going after Tweek. With or without you." I shoved the glasses angrily towards him and what was not meant to happened, unfortunately happened. Kenny's jeans were soaked.

"What the fuck man!" He stood up quickly, moving away from the rest of the liquor running down the edge of the table and somehow, I regretted my actions. I bit my lip to keep from laughing and stared at the foam sliding down the crotch of his pants.

"Uh, accidents happen." I said awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. I was never good with apologies.

"You mean just like this one?" He growled and next thing I knew he took Clyde's glass and I was hit on the face with a splash of foamy, bitter beer. I barely had enough time to cough it out before Kenny grabbed me by the sweater and pushed me harshly onto the floor. My head banged the went tiles pretty fucking hard and if it wasn't for my vision going whack for a second, I would've managed to throw in a punch, much like he did. After the hit to my stomach, Kenny threw in a couple of good kicks at my side before he spat some oddly creative insult and stormed off towards the entrance. I should've just let him go there, but I ran after him. And before he left the door I caught him by the waist and pulled him back just long enough to spew out an apology.

And I did this for two reasons. One, I couldn't confront Tweek alone. I needed some motivation, someone who could've told me that this was worth doing. Yeah, sounds a little lame but it was true. And that was Kenny, my closest friend since high school. I wouldn't and I wasn't going to go through this without him. Even if I had just said I would minutes before. He may have not been an expert at love but he was an expert at almost everything else. And that had to count for something.

"You're pretty pathetic today, Craig." Kenny chuckled pulling apart from me with a minor glare.

"Fuck you, I think I handled your ass whoopin pretty well."

"Huh, really. Are those tears in your eyes?"

I pushed him roughly by the shoulders. "Shut up McCor-" _**PLOP**_ "Ow!"

"Sorry!" Clyde had accidentally hit me with one of the billiard balls.

"Up yours, dude." I scowled rubbing my head lightly. Kenny was laughing appreciatively at the result to Clyde's actions. Cause he was such a loving friend.

"Come on." Kenny grinned, picking up the black ball that had rolled underneath a vacant table. "Let's go find your soul mate."

"Lead the way, blondie." I grunted.

_**PLOP.**_

The second time, it hit the back of my neck. No less pain then my head.

"Clyde you son of a bitch!" I growled and took the eight ball from Kenny's hand, turning quick and throwing it with as much force as I could. Sadly, I had poor aim.

"Who the fuck threw that?!" It may as well have been the Hulk who had said that. The guy was over six feet tall. Or maybe his bulkiness made me feel that small. But he was holding the ball I had just thrown in a tight grip with a flushed face and veins that popped out from beneath his bandana.

"**He** threw it, sir."

I tensed up. And I mean really fucking tensed up. Because a slender finger was pointing at me and suddenly, I wished I had still been sitting near my refrigerator, letting my boxers soak in beer. Kenny was such...such a loving friend.

"Did he now?" It was a fierce low snarl, one that will shamefully haunt me for quite some time. He approached with heavy steps that creaked the floor and damn did I wish he just fell under from his loaded weight. I thought I was dead. I looked at Kenny and he had this awful glint in his eyes. One that I knew meant he was up to no good. But I caught on too late. Before I knew it, he was stepping up in front of me with a sly smirk plastered onto his reddish face.

"He did. But let me show you some_ real pain_." Kenny said, and he threw the second billiard ball.

Let me just say, there was blood. There was probably a broken nose. And less than pleasant, the was an even angrier Hulk.

There was a loud gasp among the drunken beings and the last thing I heard was Clyde saying something along the lines of "well that escalated QUICKLY" before Kenny pulled me by the arm and led me quickly out the bar.

* * *

"You...fucking...idiot!" I shouted through gasps as we ran down the busy streets. My legs and chest ached painfully and it felt like we had been running for hours. But after seven blocks, two alleys and some streets, we were finally out of the mr. steroid's sight.

We came to a stop near an ice cream shop. Kenny had collapsed to his knees breathless, but more likely from laughing then from running. He clutched his stomach, letting out his high pitch giggles and whatnot. My gut felt bruised and I felt like puking up everything in my system.

"He runs like a girl." Kenny grinned, his huffs coming down to short reasonable breaths.

"I'm never going to a bar with you again."

"Watson always follows his dear Sherlock everywhere. It's inevitable." Kenny stood up with a bold and taunting look.

"You're far from being Sherlock."

"True...Then Bilbo always follows Gandalf on his great adventur-"

"Shut up Kenny."

"Let's get ice cream." He pulled me towards the entrance. My legs were fucking shaking.

"No. Can we just find Tweek and forget this ever happened?"

"Ice Cream always happens." Kenny noted with a raised brow. "Especially after a break up."

"Kenny." I pleaded.

"_Craig_." He mocked.

With a sigh, I agreed. It was passing eleven and the temperature had dropped a good few degrees. But it would've been a dull decision to have disagreed to ice cream over the nightly temperature.

"By the way, Clyde told me Tweek said he would be with Kevin at the laundromat."

So after our ice cream we headed towards the laundromat.

How bad could that be?


	5. Track five

**Track Five:** Astro Zombies

"Look at how far you're willing to go for Tweek."

Kenny poked my side as he said with a smug grin and wiggling eyebrows. He said it abruptly and not to mention quite loud while we walked down the busy streets at night, in search for a tiny laundromat settled cozily in between a pizza parlor and bookstore near some plaza. He had more clever things to say, I could tell. He was chewing his bottom lip again, a sign in which I deducted meant he had way more clever and possibly inappropriate or border-breaking things to say. Once in a while he'd even smile and snort here and there.

And that's a terrible thing. It's a fucking terrible thing because there was no possible way to figure out what exactly those 'witty line-crossing' things were. I only had the petite power to stare at his cheeky, priggish look and those round blue eyes that would squint in delight at some insulting jest fest going on in his small head. All I could do was imagine the kinds of things going on and trust me, I could think of some pretty fucked up stuff, but in the end Kenny's real thoughts would have the final say.

Thus I threw a weak contribution to his remark.

"Is there any possible way you could try and put yourself in my shoes for a bit?"

His grin dropped and for a second I thought he was actually considering it. But in a moment's time he threw an arm around me and pulled me close, his lips grazing my ear. "I have. They were large and stiff. Not exactly the kind of shoes I'd like to wear."

I pushed him off with a grunt, his light twittering laugh drowning amid the traffic noise behind us. "I think you're having too much fun with this."

We crossed a bakery with scents that soothed the irritated frown glued to my face. Kenny patted my back with a small wink; his daft way of showing his actions were merely to poke fun. I added the little part where it might have meant he was sorry as well. He proceeded to the window of the bakery, pressing his face and hands to the glass near the shelf where it held boston crème donuts. I stopped along, feeling my heart drop a fraction.

His posture. His eyes lit with excitement and want. It all brought me back to...

"_C-craig, look at the caramel apples! C'mere, look. God, they look so delicious."_

Tweek.

At this point, I should've slapped myself. I really should've because the tiniest things were reminding me of him and I couldn't help it. This wasn't a candy story, this was a fucking bakery yet I still looked at Kenny and saw Tweek poking at the glass, pulling me by my sweater, close until I was pressed up behind him. I was smelling caramel and peanuts instead of freshly baked bread and chocolate chip muffins. I was frowning again, twisting the hem of my sweater between my clenched hands. And all I wanted was to run up to Tweek and kiss him. One more time, at least.

While I stood still with my knot-forming thoughts, Kenny had apparently slipped inside the bakery and purchased himself a couple of boston crème donuts and a bottle of beer (considering the fact that I didn't realize he was pulling me along with him until I dazed out of the pit of those wrenching memories.) As for the beer, he had used his self-acclaimed fluent Spanish to win over the baker into giving him a Corona he had spotted behind the counter. I asked no more of that and accepted a plump warm doughnut.

"Butters." Kenny said quietly after a few blocks and the last swig of his beer. I eyed him questioningly. He broke into a lazy smile and pushed the bag of donuts into my hand.

"Butters fucking Scotch," He repeated with a sigh. "He was my first actual boyfriend." He smirked, wobbling the bottle between his nimble fingers before throwing it casually down an alley we passed.

I rose my eyebrows with slight interest. "And?" I added curiously.

Kenny chuckled. "_**And.**_ I was happy with him. Much like you were with Tweek."

I took in his words and realized we were almost near the laundromat. I began to smile and looked down at him. "So...so you _were_ in love once." I bellowed accusingly.

Kenny scoffed with a smirk. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

But I did. I was overwhelmed at the thought of my discovery and such feelings brought a large grin across my face. To add to that we were nearing the plaza and I could almost puke the tingling feeling rising in the pit of my stomach and all I thought about was Tweek's lips and Kenny's surrender.

"You loved him! And he broke your heart to tiny fucking pieces and that destroyed you! So typical scenario, you stopped believing in love and instead focused on flings and nights with no strings attached and all that cliché bullshit and-"

"WHOA, whoa" Kenny pulled me to a stop and flashed me a baffled smile. "No. Craig, I...I broke his heart."

I blinked, taken back by his words. And suddenly, nothing made sense. Besides the fact that we had arrived at the laundromat.

* * *

We found Kevin but much to my disappointment, Tweek wasn't there. Not a glimpse, nor a single trace that he ever was. And Kevin proved it true with a nod, telling us he had not even spoken to him in days.

So I sighed irritably and Kenny sighed tiredly and we leaned back on the washing machines, listening to Kevin's abnormal stories as he swayed around with hampers of clothes and flung them into the little, damp, and circular caves. I felt the washer tremble on my back as it spun into a different cycle and heard the hums of every other washer working into a beat that made my head hurt in the slightest bit. Although it also could've been the bright neon signs hung up on the wall of every section. As if the bright pink and blue letters helped the customers realized where the drying and washing section was located at other than the actual machines themselves.

"So I had the chicken for a week. But it couldn't let me sleep at night. It ended up staying in the kitchen."

Kevin was laughing and Kenny was well on his way to hysterical laughter but it might've just been the beer. And the sugar from the donuts. Or just the slight chance that it was a regular Kenny reaction. Either way, I was the only one cut off from the joke. Or evidently, the incident of Kevin's pet chicken. Not that I even bothered to care. I was tapping my foot anxiously. Kevin had to know where Tweek was. And if he really didn't, then I wasn't planning to waste my time here. It was a bit past midnight and time was seeping through my fingers. Tweek was out there, somewhere. And I just needed that chance.

"What's with the tiny socks and shorts?" Kenny pointed with a cocked brow. "You fucktard, did you shrink your clothes or something?"

Kevin shook his head and proceeded to fling the rest of the clothes into the washer. "They're Token's cousins'."

"Token's what?" I barged in, confused.

As Kevin passed by, Kenny kicked him blandly on the ass. "Creep. What the hell are you doing with those?"

"Ow, fuck." Kevin frowned, rubbing soothingly. "I'm here with them. Helping out, you know?"

"You took Token's cousins to laundry?" Kenny asked skeptically.

"No. I came with Token _and_ his cousins to laundry..."

"KEWIN! UNCLE KEWIN!"

There were loud screeches and giggles, follow by the sound of little footsteps and the bell chiming from the open doors. In seconds there were two little boys circling Kevin, tugging at his shirt and jumping with wide grins, opening their tiny hands, eager to be picked up. Kevin acted surprised and began to talk gibberish. You know, when you mash up your words and talk in that "aren't you so cute" motherly voice. He picked up the taller of the two and set him on the folding table nearby. Then took the other and kept him within his arms, poking at his pink cheeks and ruffling his light brown hair.

"Kewin, I want a sammich!" The boy shouted gleefully, sucking on his nearly empty juicebox.

"Later, Dante." Kevin replied, trying to settle the smaller boy on the table who clung to him like a baby koala.

"You'd make a great daddy one day, Kevin." Kenny grinned mockingly. Kevin narrowed his eyes, seeing past Kenny's remark.

"Dante, Frankie, this is Kenny and Craig. They're my friends."

"Are they friends with Token?" Dante eyed us suspiciously, chewing roughly on his straw. He was a kid, probably no bigger than five, who can blame him.

"Yeah, of course." Kevin nodded and successfully detached Frankie's arms from his neck, sitting him near his brother. They both waved and greeted with candy stained mouths.

"You two are adorable." Kenny chuckled and quickly turned around, sticking out his tongue in disgust as he leaned close to me. "Yuck, kids. Let's bounce before one of them touches me with their sticky fingers."

I pushed him away. "It hard to believe you're human sometimes."

"Yeah, says the guy with the emotionless face."

"Fuck you."

"DARN IT." Kevin groaned and we looked over to find him searching frantically within a red bag. "Dante, did Token forget to buy softener?"

"I dunno. I want a sammich."

"Where is he anyways?" I asked.

"Toto went to buy candy sticks." Frankie pointed to the door chewing on his thumb casually.

"At the candy store." Dante agreed.

"That son of a…warlock." Kevin hissed. "He went to get cigarettes at the liquor store."

"Oh, that blows." Kenny yawned, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me towards the door. "Well, we gotta get going. We're on an ex hunt."

"W-w-wait, wait." Kevin stopped us and I felt Kenny's grip tighten around my wrist painfully. "Watch the kids for just a small second, please."

Kenny turned around and smiled at the kids. "There, I watched them." And proceeded out the door before I caught him by the waist.

"Sure." I agreed.

"Thank you, thank you." Kevin muttered, rushing past us. "It'll only take a moment. Just gonna go after Token and buy the softener."

It took twenty minutes before Kevin actually came back. And to put it simply, those were the longest twenty fucking minutes of my life.

* * *

"No, no, **NO.** Frankie don't touch the bleach. _Jesus, who opened that for you_?!"

"Thirsty, thirsty!"

"Yeah but we don't drink bleach. Drink your juice."

SPLAT.

"I said drink it, not throw it at my face."

There are two sides to the story which later came to be known as 'meeting Lucifer and Satan'. It was within those twenty minutes of Kevin's absence that the tale itself took place. And as I mentioned before, that span of time was hell in the flesh.

First, there was me. And the little twat named Frankie whom I got stuck with after Kenny muttered something along the lines of 'the smaller they are, the worse the get'. Skeptical to his absurd philosophy, I agreed to take care of Frankie while Dante took Kenny around the laundromat. Minutes into my task, there had already been quite a handful of incidents.

One, Frankie had heard me swear. Accidently, I promise you, when he knocked over the bottle of detergent and it had landed on my foot.

"FUCKING SHIT!" He had repeated ecstatically, clapping his little hands together like he had accomplished something great. I reddened at his sudden outburst and guilt had me wrap my hand around his sticky lips. Little Jaws though decided he wanted to bite me and release his red lips to repeat the words loudly and joyfully over and over again. Something I was going to have to explain to Token.

Two, while I went in a quick search to find a napkin to wipe his new sailor mouth, Frankie had decided to crawl over onto the next table where he found a lovely box of powder detergent that belonged to a woman, converting her bills into coins at the front. I came back to find half the powder spilled on the table, even more so on her dried and neatly folded clothes and Frankie playing with one of her, um, bras.

"Frankie, _what the __**fuck**_—I mean _hell_, no, um ugh. Stop dude, leave the detergent alone! Put…Put that bra back. For god's sake don't put it in your mouth!"

"What the hell is going on here?"

"….Uh. Um."

It would be beyond embarrassing to go into detail. But three things happened. Frankie threw the bra at my face, Frankie blamed it on me, and I got slapped by the chick. Pretty hard.

Then there was Kenny's side and since I wasn't actually present, the following that happened are taken upon his word.

Dante had dragged him over to the vending machine were he begged for the double chocolate chip cookies. Kenny had disagreed, telling him he had enough sugar in his system. Which led to Dante getting frustrated and storming off to the back where the larger dryers were set.

"Oh come on, kid. They're just cookies." Kenny sighed heading reluctantly to the back.

Dante had climbed and locked himself into one of the dryers.

"Holy shit Dante, get the hell out of there." Kenny shouted, running over to the dryer and pulling on the handle. Dante stuck his tongue out and, according to McCormick, he flipped him the bird.

"You little brat." Kenny sneered and pounded on the glass. "Open the fucking door."

"Oooo! Ooooo! You sweared!" Dante giggled. "I'mma tell Token on you!"

"Tell him all you want." Kenny growled, trying the handle again before thinking of a slightly different idea. "Or…or tell him how it feels like to go round and round in the dryer." He smirked pressing one of the activation buttons.

The dryer moved a fraction and made a low rumbling noise that wiped the grin off of Dante's face.

"Stop that!"

"Get out then, brat."

After a few good insults thrown back and forth Dante finally got out and demanded the chocolate chip cookies. When Kenny refused yet again, Dante had taken a donut from the bag I had settled on the table and smashed it against his face and dirty blonde hair. I don't know what stopped Kenny from hitting that kid, but he managed to wipe it off without a single hand landing on him. Actually, I bet he would've given that kid a good smack in the face. But his hair was moussed with crème and the first thing in his head, other than pommeling the little boy to death, was to get it off quick before it became sticky.

Now, just as leaving Frankie had been a mistake, Kenny leaving Dante was even worse. Which by the end of our little scenarios Kenny came to the conclusion that it really didn't matter the older or younger the kid was; kids were evil and obnoxious as long as they were still kids. And Dante, you could say, was on the high level of evil and obnoxious. So by the time Kenny had strolled back to the table, ruffling his wet strands of hair, Dante was snickering, sitting atop one of the washing machines with the bottle of opened bleach and a huge grin across his face.

"Please tell me you drank that." Kenny grumbled but completely ignored the wicked giggles from Dante as he spotted something completely beyond reasonable limits going on within the glass window of the washer. "Dante…what the hell did you do?"

There before the glass of the washing machine was a pair of donuts being repeatedly smashed into the window by the spinning clothes that were not only being stained by the chocolate and crème but were also being discolored by the bleach Dante had most likely put in.

"My donuts, you fucker!" Kenny growled and snatched the bottle of bleach from Dante's hands, and as expected it was empty.

"Uncle, buy me cookies! Please!"

"Don't call me uncle you insolent tadpole."

"Uncle, you look like a girl."

"SAY THAT SHIT TO MY FACE AGAIN, JUST WATC—"

This is where our story finally merged and I came just in time to stop Kenny from socking the kid right in the face. And prevent him from possibly going to jail for that.

"Kenny, chill. Stop." I pulled him by his arms and I had to keep him pressed up against me just so he couldn't reach Dante, who was giggling wildly and jumping down to the table. Frankie was attached to my leg, trying to climb his way up and hitting Kenny's legs in a jealous manner.

It was a mess. A total fucking mess.

"Craig, I swear I'm gonna kill him!"

"Are you two boyfriends? Do you like each other?"

"Kenny, calm the fuck down! Dante shut up for a second, okay!"

"Kenny looks like a princess. Is he your princess?"

"No Frankie, he's not. Could you get off my leg? Kenny stop acting like a kid."

"He's acting like a girl."

"DANTE."

"Do you wear dresses Kenny?"

"FRANKIE."

* * *

It's hard to imagine how we finally settled things down. No, wait. It's only hard to imagine how I actually got Kenny to settle down. But I do remember us all back at the folding table. And Dante and Frankie were quiet, yet content because I had given them dry-erase markers and they were now doodling on our faces with their occasional yawn and faint giggle. Kevin arrived with the softener and Token and I could almost hear Kenny's inner thoughts screaming in joy. He looked like he was either ready to collapse tiredly, or collapse at all the anger he had still yet to let out.

"Thanks guys." Token said, placing a case of beer on the folding table and taking Frankie in his arms before he passed out on the table.

"They weren't much of a bother, were they?" Kevin asked giving Dante some oatmeal cookies.

Kenny and I looked at each other. Then at the kids who grinned wickedly.

"No." Kenny's voice was coarse. "Not one bit."

"Oh, that's good." Kevin gave us his moon crescent smile, took out a few beers from the case and handed them to us. "So, Token told me he actually spoke to Tweek earlier today. Said he was heading to the arcade with Kyle. Not too long ago right Token?"

"Yep. They're at Gameworks."

"Fuck, that's far." I groaned.

"FUCKING SHIT!" Frankie shouted.

"Whoa, hey, who taught you that?" Token asked in shock.

"Gameworks, gotcha. Thanks!" I laughed nervously and luckily Kenny was already pulling me out the door.

Token found out eventually. He wasn't that happy either. But at least he wasn't as mad at me as he was at Kenny for his donuts that stained his clothes and the bleached than discolored them.

* * *

We sat at the back of the nearly empty bus, yawning and almost ready to pass out.

"I'm kind of hoping Tweek is at the Arcade." Kenny mumbled with a chuckle. "This is getting tiring."

I turned to him, smiling appreciatively. "You don't have to come, Kenny."

"Nah…no." He smiled back. "I'm fine. Just a little nap and I'm good. Plus we got those beers to drink later on."

We laughed, I think a little too loud after the few people on the bus turned to give us uneasy stares. With some snickers and a few yawns we sunk into our seats and relaxed for a bit. I turned to the window and watched the buildings zoom past in a blur. I was also hoping Tweek would finally turn up at the arcade, considerably more than Kenny was hoping for. I reminded myself, that's all I needed. Hope and a few moments with Tweek.

That's what happens when you're in love, I guess. It doesn't matter how long the sun's been down for. Or how many hours you've been staring at the dark sky. All that matters is if there's still another dawn waiting for. And if that person will be there to share it with you.

Shit, since when did I get poetic?

"Mustache." Kenny whispered. I looked over to find him smirking tiredly.

"What?"

"Dante. He drew a mustache on you."

I looked at my reflection through the window and realized there was italian mustache drawn above my upper lip. I began to chuckle.

"What do I have?" Kenny asked. I looked over at him. "Please don't tell me Frankie drew a dick on my face."

I smiled. "No…You have a flower on your cheek."

"Great." Kenny yawned with a snort. "The kid's determined to shred my masculinity."

"You can wash it off when we get there." I suggested and shifted in my seat until I got comfortable and leaned my head on the window.

"Nah." I heard Kenny say with another yawn. He shifted as well until I felt his head resting on my shoulder. "I kind of like flowers."

We fell asleep after that.


	6. Track six

**Track Six**: Techno Fan

The tires on the bus screeched to a halt and we were woken up by the impact of our faces to the seats in front of us. It was a dazed moment, one where I felt like every single one of my senses had been falcon punched right out of my body and I was merely a mist floating through galactic space. I was seeing blue black and stars before I squinted in agony, heard Kenny groaning, and the bus driver announcing the last stop. I regained my vision and for a second, I thought we had slept through the night. There was a bright light peering through the window that got me all panicky. Forget the forming bruise on my forehead; I thought it was completely over. My time had been completely wasted and it was now morning. Tweek was probably home now and all that hope, all that patience had gone to waste. It angered, shocked, and worried me to an abnormal extend which is why I gripped Kenny's arm harshly once I felt the piercing light hit my the side of my face.

"Augh, Craig!" Kenny blared. His voice was croaky from sleep but even then he still had enough strength to pry my hand off him.

It was between his sleepy glare and the bus driver's announcement that I realized morning had still not yet come. And the light hitting my face was merely a streetlight the bus had parked under. We were in near Gameworks. And there was still time.

"Sorry." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes free of their drowsiness. Somewhere inside of me, there was the voice of reason telling me to slap myself in the face for overreacting. Yet the bigger part of me told me if I wasn't alert, I might have just missed my chance.

We slipped off the bus leaning slightly on each other for support as a result of our good long nap. The temperature dropped to a degree where within minutes we were shaking lightly and rubbing our arms, looking around for the building with the yellow bright logo. It wasn't much of a summer day, or night I should say. Kenny nudged me around humming in which direction we should have starting walking. Humming because he was still half-asleep and probably not interested in talking while every bit of his muscles were still shimmering off their drowsiness. He was shivering and tearing from the bitter wind blowing against us. Sleep does that to you, I figured. I guessed, or assured myself, that I looked no different since a kick of sympathy waved in and soon, without much thought, I was pulling Kenny in close wrapping a hand around his shoulder and leading our way off the vacant parking lot.

"Craig." Kenny muttered tiredly looking off somewhere behind us. "Freaking hell, Craig. Gameworks is _that_ way."

I turned back bringing us to a halt. "You're kidding me."

"Mhmm nope." Kenny yawned and, if I wasn't mistaken, he began to nuzzle into my chest.

"Kenny, hey. Don't fall asleep again." I poked his side but he was beginning to feel really heavy against me. It wasn't until I brought his chin up that I realize he was already halfway asleep. "K-ken. Kenny. Hey, wake up, dude. Wake up, you're kind of heavy—"

I don't know whether he purposely pushed into me or not, and maybe he just sort of knocked the fuck out, but he left his entire weight on me too damn sudden that my own sluggish muscles gave out and we dropped to the floor with my head making lovely painful contact with the concrete and Kenny's face burying within my neck. After a second he was awake again and his lips were grazing across my skin as he picked up his head lazily, laughing softly, even though he must've realized his entire body was limp and resting on mine.

I couldn't breathe.

"I could really use a beer right now." He smiled but before I could say anything, he slowly rose off me and took one of the beers from my sweater's pocket. He sat down with chattering teeth and popped open the can, taking a long sip and exhaling with satisfaction.

I sat up, taking a glimpse of the time on my cell phone. Past midnight and this place was practically deserted with the occasional car that probably belonged to the night-shifters. There were plenty of buildings around that were all blending into the night but those few whose high level windows still glowed with yellow or white lights. Everyone was either asleep or working, I concluded. But was anyone out there chasing after something they loved? Were those things just put aside once the sun came down, and left alone until the light of another day? Were they not worried that, if they waited another day, that very thing could be gone? Maybe they didn't care about time. Maybe they were skeptics and thought time was just a figment of the imagination. Or maybe there was just no need to worry. I'm half ashamed to say that ever since Tweek ended things between us, I was often thinking these deep, somewhat irrational thoughts. It had only been over twenty four hours ago but I was already starting to wear myself thin of all these mind-boggling questions.

To rid myself of anymore emotionally disturbing philosophy, I looked over at Kenny, watching him poke around the pop-up tab of the beer. He looked like a straight up child, with his pouty lips and big round eyes.

Then I remembered that kid had broken Butter's heart.

"Why?" I asked suddenly, like if out of nowhere Kenny had the ability to read my mind and there was no need to explain myself further. Granted, I felt stupid the moment I said it and even worse when Kenny quirked a brow and gave me a strange look. But the best solution to rid yourself of the bitterness filling you up from an unreasonable heartbreak is to turn the tables around. Find the closest person near you and discuss their issues. I made myself clearer. "Why did you break up with him?"

I didn't need to mention Butters; Kenny caught on rather quick. His lips tightened and twisted in thought and he stared at his beer can for a lengthy amount of time. Before long, another chilly breeze blew in and we both shivered. Still, we both sat in our spots with nothing but the sound of fizzing beer and Kenny's tongue clicking.

"Because." He said finally with a long sigh, standing up and brushing the back of his pants.

"Because why?" I stood up, tagging along as he began to walk down the parking lot. I could tell his was biting the inside of his cheeks. They went hollow as he chewed, then puffed out as his jaw slacked tiredly. But I wanted an answer. I had no good reason other than curiosity and that's kept me going. "Kenny…"

"Because, Craig." Kenny stopped and his eyes looked twice as tired. "He told me he loved me."

He shrugged carelessly, digging his hands into his back pockets and began to walk down the poor lit street, leaving me to ponder and react to his , how do you react to an answer like that?

We dropped the subject. I decided if he wasn't going to share anything beyond what he told me, then there wasn't any point in forcing him to do so. It did leave me thinking though and certainly viewing him in a slight different perspective. I mean, here was this incredibly brilliant kid with limitless knowledge capacity and wit. A creative thinker with anomalous views in art and literature and endless books stacking his apartment since day one. _Okay, no wait. That's __**Broflovski**_. But here was an old high school friend who feared nothing and stepped up boldly to any teacher, or hell, any fucking authority figure. Yet…with all his nerve and risk-taking persona, he ended up running away from a petty thing like love.

I considered my thoughts carefully but before it got me any further we had stepped into the warmth of the arcade and every thought that was being analyzed in my brain had melted into a deep relieved sigh.

"Mario Cart." Kenny spoke up heading into the crowd of teens and kids.

"W-what?" I asked, following along.

"Kyle is sophisticated and cute. Therefore he's most likely playing Mario Cart."

Somewhat, his present self was still bold enough to overpower anything underlying in his past.

"Quit assuming Kenny. He could be anywhere."

A few moments later, Kyle was in our sight. And he was playing Mario Cart.

* * *

"You guys have terrible luck." Kyle gave us a sympathetic smile, watching the glowing screen like a hawk and gripping the game's steering wheel like his life depended on it. Kyle was a simple college kid; into sports, video games, and girls from the study group. So far all the Study Girls were turning up to be lesbians or happily taken gals which resorted Kyle's life status to all time gamer. Therefore, he was here most of the time. Life forbid he was here playing this all the time. Okay that's a lie and I'm being a dick. Yeah, one minute I praise the guy, the other I'm making his life seem like geek class 101. Kyle just doesn't need an explanation. He's just Kyle. Intelligent, witty, short-tempered Kyle.

But back to real life situations. I don't think I need to explain why he accused us of having such luck. If I told you I spent the next minute or so repeatedly bashing my head into the side of the game's headboard, you'd know why.

"He left an hour ago."

"How long have you been playing?" Kenny quirked a brow, wrapping an arm around my neck to keep me from breaking my skin and bashing my skull.

"Don't know. Bout an hour. I started right when Tweek left."

"Did he mention where…." I sighed, feeling the coolness of Kenny's fingers around the heated back of my neck. I was tired as hell.

"The graphics seemed to have upped an inch or so." Kenny noted amusedly, sliding into the vacant seat of the game machine.

"What the hell are you talking about, dude. This is nintendo. Their graphics are shit."

"So why are you playing then, dumbass?"

"Stan wanted to. But he left to the bathroom a while back."

"Uhuh. Stan wanted to. You're whipped, dude."

And there I was watching Kenny slowly slip away into the complex gaming world he denied having connection with. I was completely ignored and within a few moments of exchanging gaming cards, my situation had been dropped and I was cut off from their half hour racing challenge. I could've continued with my head bashing and that still probably wouldn't have shaken them free of their gaming mode. So after a couple attempts at getting their attention and a few careless waves from Kenny, I decided to head to the small bar near the back section of the arcade.

I don't know how long I sat there for, but I must've looked like a real sad person. Not in a literal sense where it was like "Hey I'm frowning. I'm sad and I must've had a bad day." No, it was more like "Hey, I'm a tired, desperate, and complete fool. I might be drifting into perpetual depression. Pity me." Not saying that I was actually falling into either one of those categories but at the moment, it's what I felt. It's how I felt. I would say this was probably my breaking point. Where everything suddenly became a dead end and all I wanted to do was crumble into bits of dust and wait until everything shut down and the janitor just so happened to come by a sweep me up. It wasn't until I realized Kenny was sitting next to me that I found out it had been only fifteen minutes or so that had passed by.

"Bummer."

I wasn't in the mood. "Shut up Kenny."

He kept his stare bland. "Can't a guy complain about losing a racing match?"

I stood up to leave releasing what could've been a long sigh of defeat. I didn't get much far then a few steps. Kenny was grabbing onto my wrist. "Can you let go of me?" I said with a dead tone.

Kenny seemed almost confused. "Where are you going?"

"Home." I deadpanned.

"Ahhh." He nodded with the slight roll of his eyes. I was waiting for him to accept and let me free but he pulled instead, pulling me close towards him.

"Seriously." I said caustically, but Kenny was calling the bartender, ignoring my complaints entirely and pulling me closer every time I tried to release myself. "Kenny, come on." By the time I actually got his attention, he had slipped a bottle of beer into my hand and taken one for himself. Somehow he kept me still with his leg wrapped around one of mine.

"Cheers" He grinned, bumping his glass to mine.

"You're funny." I said through gritted teeth.

"Cheers to a wonderful night, Craig." Kenny scrunched his shoulders innocently, licking the edge of his glass with a sly smile.

"Do you know how badly I want to punch you right now?" I slammed my glass on the counter, using the heel of my palm to push his knee and pry myself free. Yet again, my attempt failed. Kenny sat up straight, tightening our legs together and pulling me forward.

"Do you know how badly _**I **_want to punch _**you**_ right now?" He looked me straight in the eye with a faint glare.

"W-what?"

Yeah, I was taken back by his words. When am I not? He released me with a small kick and only then did I notice the tiny tingling prickly feeling and the warm sensation of my blood continuing to flow through my leg.

"You're acting like a fucking child." Kenny said more quietly but I could tell he was trying to fight back a smile. I blinked confusingly, rubbing my sore leg. "Oh don't give me that look, dude. I'm talking about your non-stop moping. Your depressed Hamlet-like persona. Your "holy shit the end is near, the end will come if I do not get to kiss Cinderella-Tweek by the end of the night" attitude."

I stood there, hearing him go on about my fussy character throughout the night. And yeah, I admit, I got red at the cheeks. Not because what he said insulted me but because what he said was absolutely true. I looked at myself and there I was thinking about turning into dust because I couldn't talk to Tweek. Tweek, the boy who kissed me and told me were couldn't go on together. Tweek, the boy who doubtlessly would still be on this planet the next day, walking on the same ground as I did, not too far from me. Kenny had given the proposal to go after him and I had taken that idea to the heart. In just a few hours I had become a speck of astronomical rock that landed and was caught in the orbit of this small improbable idea that maybe Tweek still wanted me. That stupid fucking chance.

Now here I was, drained of all my energy for wasting it all on this senseless idea. This idiotic chance. I was beginning to feel like a loser. No, not that typical "ha, you lost the game loser!". More like the "look at what the hell you've become for going batshit on some stupid bull" type.

"Fuck." Kenny looked at me uneasily. "I didn't…hurt your _feelings_ or something, did I?"

I managed a smile and slowly took a seat next to him. "…N-no. You're right."

"…Of course I am." He said softly, patting and rubbing my shoulder affectionately. I laughed lightly, whacking his hand off me.

"So…" He began, nudging my hip with his until I scooted over to share the seat. He grabbed our glasses and slid them in front of us. "Um. Cheers?"

"To the fucking stupidity of trying." I chuckled grabbing my glass and raising it.

"To whoever invented beer." Kenny grinned, his glass clanking with mine.

"What a miracle that you don't know who that was." I mocked.

"I'mma knock you off this chair." He warned me jokingly.

I locked one of his legs between mine and gave him a devilish grin. "Try to assmunch. I'm not falling alone."

"Touché, bro."

And we gulped our drinks down.

* * *

Now, see, here's the thing about me and Kenny. We can't drink together. At least, not when there's nobody else we know around. Why? Well we sort of have the tendency to start drinking competitions. And we're both really competitive. Yeah, imagine the sort of stuff that happens on those bar nights. I can easily tell you one hundred stories of our high school nights of fake id's and ridiculous fights or running from the police. But I won't. Because me and Kenny ended up having another drinking game that night. Yeah we got competitive and yes, we had another one of our little incidents.

Here's what happened:

"And so J-Jerry Springer was all like 'We have the results….and-and you are not the father.' And then the guy was all l-like 'I TOLD YOU BITCH, I TOLD YOU!" Kenny was up and hollering at the bartender while I clutched my stomach, cracking up in fits of hysterical laughter.

"I'm pretty sure that was the Maury show." The bartender eyed us blandly and unimpressed.

"No. NO. That was the muh…the motherfucking Jerry Springer show!" Kenny slapped the counter defensively, taking another shot. My laughs were fading away and I was beginning to ball up my sweater under my head, nuzzling into it with a huge childish grin.

"Why is this soooo soft. Ken-Kenny, feel my sweater. It feels like Stripe."

"Shut up babe, I'm having a really important meeting right now." Kenny patted my head and ordered another shot. The bartender seemed annoyed. I guess I would've been too, if two drunken idiots had been babbling at me for the past hour or so. He tightened his lips and reluctantly went back to fill another shot.

"_Y se la pasa a la izquierda, a la derecha, y GOAL!"_

"GOALLLLL" Kenny shouted, shaking me free of my sleepiness and pointing to the flat-screen tv above us. "Craig, babe, America made a fucking goal!"

"That's Mexico." The bartender deadpanned, sliding Kenny the shot. "Not America."

"OH BITE ME, WAFFLE." Kenny flipped him off, grabbing my hand and leading me out the bar.

"This is a cool tennis match." I laughed. I was completely out of it. Really. I was seeing the world in high contrast and saturation. Everything felt light and wobbly and merry. For a second I thought I was high. But I wasn't. I waved bye to the bartender and followed Kenny.

We ended up upstairs, chucking coins into almost every game we could get our hands on. We battled it out on Dance Dance Revolution but playing on expert had been a bad idea. Before half of the song was over, we were on the floor rubbing our foreheads after head-butting from trying a stupid breakdance move. Then we moved onto Jurassic park virtual were we sat inside a booth shaped like a jeep and used machine guns to shoot the dinosaurs chasing us. Unfortunately, once the T-Rex came out both Kenny and I coward out, jumping onto each other when neither of us had the gut to shoot the horrid beast. We ran out screaming but I won't go into details because telling you that is embarrassing enough.

And then, we ended up at House of the Dead.

There, a couple of ten year old kids had challenged us into a zombie killing spree. Like the stupid drunks we were, we accepted.

"I can beat you easily." Said a snotty red haired boy, prepping the plastic wired gun. I was up first.

"Try to carrot head." I smirked, aiming the gun towards the screen.

PEW. P-P-PEW. PEW. PEW.

"Yeah, go Craig! Shoot that fucker! GO BLUE TEAM!"

"Kenny, dude, I'm red!"

"OH…..damn, Craig you suck. You gon die, son."

PEW. PEW. P-P-P-PEW.

I did die. Almost instantly. And the little brats decided to laugh. I was about to swing at one of them but Kenny held me back with a wicked grin.

"Calm yourself, boy. I'll handle this shit."

And like his words fit some prophecy, Kenny did just that. He aimed with such precision, that I swear was impossible to have when you're drunk , and basically killed like a boss. Ten by ten the zombies fell to the ground and evaporated, leaving the snotty brat with but a few left for him to kill. I half-hated him, half-loved him in that moment and I was completely drunk so I stood there, letting him rain on them motherfucking zombies, with a slacked jaw and wide eyes.

The time was up and the kid threw his gun to the floor.

"NOW WHAT, BITCH!" Kenny threw his hands up victoriously. "HUH? SUCK IT. TASTE THE VENOMOSITY OF FAILURE AND. SUCK. IT!

"I'm telling my dad!" And the kid ran away with however many other little friends he had with him.

Me and Kenny danced triumphantly, fist bumping and high-fiving until we kinda registered what that red haired kid had actually said.

"Wait. WAIT. Did…Did he just say dad?" I gulped.

Kenny nodded. "Kids always say mom."

"But…But he said dad."

I think with our drunk minds we imagined the kid's father being a heavy weight champion wrestler or something because for the third time that night,

we ran.

* * *

We ran back to the parking lot where we buckled at the knees and fell side by side, trying to catch our breath. I had puked once or twice along the way, and Kenny had started to laugh like, once again, this was some funny joke.

"I…I think I'm ready to go home now." I chuckled, closing my eyes to feel the nice breeze. Kenny nodded, taking my sweater from my hands and balling it up to lay his head on.

"Let's just take a quick nap." He suggested, turning on his side and shifting like he was trying to get comfortable.

"In the middle of the parking lot?" I eyed him weirdly.

"Like we haven't done weirder shit than this." He smiled and scooted a bit to the side, pulling some of the sweater out to enlarge it. He patted the new space. "Lay down for a bit. It won't hurt."

"Cause the cement is beyond comforting." I rolled my eyes.

"But your sweater is soft." Kenny smirked, nuzzling into it.

"It's cotton, motherfucker."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious. You're sidetracking my point."

"Which is?"

"To lay down with me."

I gave in and settled myself on my side, laying my head on part of the sweater. Kenny smiled appreciatively but I could tell somewhere inside his head he was snickering at my surrender.

"You still have the mustache." He grinned sleepily, dragging a finger across my philtrum.

Without much thought I grabbed his hand. It must've been the beer but I smiled and noticed the red flower on the side of his flushed cheek.

"You still have the flower." I hummed tiredly.

We drifted into sleep in moments. I didn't realize our hands were still holding. And our fingers had intertwined.


	7. Track Seven

**thank you guys** for all the lovely reviews! i'm so glad you guys are enjoying this short fic. cause speaking of short, the next chapter will be the last~ i shall be posting that up tomorrow ^_^**  
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* * *

**Track Seven:** The Joker

A quarter to three. There was no way in hell Tweek was still awake at this hour. And there was absolutely no reason why_ **I**_ should have been awake at this hour, but I was. In fact I was very wide awake, after taking two naps; one on the bus and another just flat out on the street where just moments later, a towing truck spotted us and blared its horn until Kenny and I were startled to the bone. The driver apologized, giving us a slight shrug and excuse that "hey, I thought you two were dead" to which Kenny had responded, "Right, and the first thing you think of when you see a dead person is hey, let me try and wake them back up with my horn." But before that argument got heated, I took Kenny by the wrist and led him out of the parking lot.

We began walking south—or what we thought was south—and tried to ignore the bitter wind blowing against the thin of our sweaters. At this point, I guessed our destination was home. I hadn't really thought about what I was to do with the whole Tweek situation. It fogged up in my head somewhere between Kenny's lecture of how I became a whiny assmunch and the moment we began to have too many drinks. So while my vision was still doubled and my walk was still a funny sway, I decided not to think further about it.

"I spy, with my little eye, something black." Kenny yawned. His voice was still a bit slurred.

I was in no mood to play games. I felt like at any given moment I would bend over and spew all the beer I had that night. Then my sinus would explode into mushroom clouds of pain and all I would want was an icepack, some waffles, and a large coke. I looked over at Kenny and gave him a crooked smile with the shake of my head. He burped, breaking into a small smile himself and shrugged.

The road seemed long, like that fucking yellow road from the wizard of oz, just spiraling and then shifting off into one direction for a long period of time until-oh, why hello there wonderful city of oz! Except, there was no Emerald city waiting for me at the end of the road. Nothing exciting, nothing special that could serve as the positive reciprocal of my day and cancel out all the bad shit. Nope, it was just a plain old road filled with trash. I was frowning by then, thinking about this. It might not sound like much but if you were me and had conversations with your broken self-conscious, it felt like you were talking to a therapist that actually _encouraged_ you to commit suicide.

This was the part where, if this had been an old classical civil war movie, I would have dropped to my knees and planted a small white flag of defeat.

"I spy with my little eye…" I heard Kenny say, again.

God dammit. I couldn't stop thinking about Tweek. Yeah, I was still drunk and probably too tired to even list the reasons as to why I wanted Tweek by my side but he was there, in my head, just _lingering_ and _tearing_ apart all the common sense I had wired into my brain. He was there in my mind and he was still mine. We were still together and fuck reality for not wanting it that way.

"I spy something…white."

Fuck reality for telling me this couldn't be. For breaking my train of thought and reminding me I just couldn't forget this and pretend it never happened.

"I...I spy something really white…whoa, that shit's bright."

And fuck Tweek for making this the reality I hated.

"Craig, look at that, it's….it's like _Zeus_ or something."

Fuck him. For leaving me, for destroying me and turning me into a pathetic slob that—

"**Shit, it's a **_**car**_!"

There was the sound of screeching tires and before I could register anything, Kenny had knocked me down into the side of the road. The car beeped and I thought I heard the sound of an angry driver but it sped off just as quickly as it had come to a halt. I blinked harshly trying to erase the white imprints of the headlights from my sight. Kenny looked off after the car with a slacked jaw and wide eyes.

"That was a car." I said shakily, feeling my breath come out in hefty lumps. I realized then, Kenny's hands were trembling and grabbing onto the front of my sweater.

I also noticed he had fallen on top of me.

"No shit." He chuckled nervously, looking back down at me with a quivering grin. "I saved your ass."

"And yours." I noted.

Then we just sat there, trembling from the wind and that heck of a good scare. In retrospect, I would thank that certain event for occurring. To be honest, it erased all thoughts of Tweek for a good length of time. Also, it made me love life just a tiny bit more. You know what they say about near death experiences. Although, you don't see your life flash before your eyes.

All I saw were headlights and Kenny clutching onto my sweater with a drunken smile.

* * *

We got back near our neighborhood again after catching the last bus. We would've missed it if it weren't for the pebbles Kenny kept throwing at the back of the bus. Eventually it stopped and the driver let us on with a warning.

Now, someway somehow, we ended up at the apartment of one of Kenny's exes. It wasn't Fabio, thank god. But this guy wasn't any better. He was tall as fuck, pretty thin and smelt of apple pie and too much cinnamon.

"Tis your new boyfriend, Pumpkin?"

For the first time, I felt awkward around Kenny. Sure, I was his longtime friend who was never able to escape the full details of his sex life during high school but those were just stories. All I had to do was nod once in a while and make uncomfortable faces if he went too far. But now this was…real. I mean one of his exes in the flesh and interacting with him. Yeah, I was curious to know how Kenny acted with other guys but that 'third wheel' feeling was sure overwhelming any curiosity.

"Dustin, I hate pumpkins, remember?"

"Rigghhhht, did that silly nickname break us apart, cherry pie?"

"No, but I think _that_ one did."

Kenny seemed normal. Well, actually, I can never use the word normal around Kenny. Unless normal had the opposite definition of normal, you know? But still, there was that awkward bubble. Here was this mellow dude whose scruff was growing down his neck and hair was shaggy like a dirty mop, and he was flicking a finger beneath Kenny's chin, apparently okay with the fact that they might've broken up over some silly nickname. He was just so damn chill and laid back. Heck he didn't even care if I was Kenny's boyfriend. He just seemed zoned out, toying with Kenny like he was still his precious doll. And Kenny was smiling apologetically and pouting like his ex was still some child and maybe even contemplating in that witty head of his how he even came to date someone like this. I don't know if this was actually what he thought or if what I was seeing was actually played out like it had been in my head, but for two exes, these kids seemed pretty comfortable around each other.

But before I got to analyze that situation any further, Kenny was pulling me by the hand and leading me to the back of the apartment towards the garage.

Someway, somehow, Kenny had gotten a hold of his ex's car keys. And no, I didn't bother to ask.

* * *

He drove at a pretty quick speed. One which had me holding onto the dashboard, groaning from my headache and afraid to spontaneously spew out food from days before. We were heading home, finally.

"Dude, chill. There's still police out at night." I groaned pushing back into the seat and rubbing my temples.

"Calm down, princess. I'm only going ten over the speed limit."

"Huh. You're either stupid or highly apathetic." I muttered, resting my head on the window. It felt cold and uncomfortable against my cheek.

"Neither." Kenny shook his head and dug into a bag of Doritos that lay near the gear stick.

"I think you're both." I shrugged tiredly. Bad idea. The car halted and I was sent headfirst into the dashboard.

"What does that mean?" Kenny snapped with a glare.

"Did you just stop in the middle of the street?" I groaned, rubbing my forehead and feeling the headache barging in with twice the pain.

"Fuck you. What the hell does that mean?"

"Well, Sherlock, it means that I think you're a bit stupid and apathetic, that's all. Pull the car over to a curb or something."

"How in the fuck am I stupid or apathetic?" He voice was rising. See here's the thing about Kenny. He doesn't take criticism too well. Especially if they come from a drunken person like myself. Or more so, a close friend like myself. Although, to this day, I can't really understand why I said something like that to him. All I remember was the terrible headache and feeling like I was going to puke my organs out.

"In terms of love, Kenny."

Oh, and the sudden crash of heartache that had been built up over the night. You know, just like the energy drinks. I had my energetic chase through the night. This was finally the crash that came afterward. And to save you from a heated battle of venomous words and a near full fist fight, I'll just summarize the fact that this argument had gotten dirty. Pretty rough and cruel even for the close friends we were.

"You fuck around like you don't care and yeah maybe you don't. But why run away from someone who loves you? You're stupid enough to let that go and too fucking apathetic to care!"

Kenny had the front of my sweater balled into his fists and he was breathing heavily but his anger had begun to dissolve under my words.

"That's what Tweek did to you…didn't he?"

And it hit me. I felt like a match incinerating and burning to the tip until the flame died out and all that was left was ash. I looked at Kenny and saw Tweek. I saw him standing at the foot of his apartment smiling at me with that apologetic smile and all I remember hearing was 'I can't do this' and 'maybe this had gone too far'. Two years and this was the reason he had given me. You say those kinds of things to a fling. Not a relationship. Not what we had.

"He was scared." I sighed, dropping my head against the window in defeat. Kenny slowly let go of my sweater, slipping back behind the wheel.

"Yeah, well, Butters left this fucking town." Kenny mumbled quietly, flicking a finger through the keys.

"What?" I raised my head, confused. "So...that's why?"

Kenny nodded. "Yeah, it's why I broke up with him. I didn't want to deal with his departure knowing he loved me and all I could do was watch him leave." He sniffed, running a quick slender finger across his eyes. "So I broke it off. Like a fucking idiot, I just broke it off and completely forgot he ever existed."

I sat up straight, tempted to find a way to reassure him, somehow. He looked at me and smiled briefly.

"I guess I did become an apathetic dick towards love."

"Well, you manage to make me feel like a dick for yelling at you." I said quietly, giving a crooked smile. "If that makes you feel any better."

He laughed softly. "I hope it makes _**you**_ feel better. I'm kind of taking this moment to help you carry the load of heartbreak."

"Thanks." I said honestly and at once I saw a glimpse of the Kenny I never knew. It was a brief door opened and revealing the lighter, sensitive side that had never been introduced to me and it felt weird, I'll say that. But it also felt enlightening, now that Kenny, mr. one-night-stand, had nothing to hide and was in fact human after all. Behind all that he was just a guy, like me, and a friend who had inevitably gone down the same path.

"Well, enough of that." He chuckled weakly. "Boys don't cry. At least, not me."

"Except, you did." I smirked, loving the fact that he had the ability to lighten up the mood so quickly. "And I'm a reliable witness of that."

"Ha. And I'm a reliable witness of your Sex in the City obsession."

"Hey man, that's irrelevant! You can't bring that up! It's a total different subject! And any—"

"Yeah, yeah." Kenny waved me off, turning up the radio and changing the track of the cd that had apparently been playing this entire time. A mellow guitar tune rose; one that pulled strings of familiarity. "Some people call me the space cowboy…."

"…Oh shit." I grinned, trailing off my previous rant. "This is old school."

"Old school never gets old." Kenny smirked and turned it up a slight notch. "Some call me the gangsta of _loooove_."

"Some people call me Maurice!" I chimed in and Kenny revved up the motor and sped off down the street.

"Cause I speak, of the pompitous of love." We sang in unison.

And that's just kind of how Kenny and I worked. It may seem impossible but for us, it just…worked. Some old school tunes and we mellowed out and soon we were rushing past my house and his house and just driving into the night, singing at the top of our lungs like we had just won the lottery or we were just hyped up on some cupcakes. And our worries and that fucking cloud of heartbreak disappeared. I don't know how that was possible, but it happened.

"I have no idea where we're going." Kenny chewed his lip excitedly. "You alright with that?"

He looked at me and for the first time that night, I fully agreed with him.


	8. Track eight

**Track Eight: **Let's Dance to Joy Division

We drove for what felt like hours, possibly even days but neither of us minded.

There were orange specks in the sky and dark purple clouds floating endlessly in the direction we headed just as if they were following, checking up on us or reminding us that the night was officially over. The motor rumbled and the car sped off bumpily down the road, shaking our tired bodies free of the sleep we most certainly needed. But we didn't care. And neither of us spoke out loud or to one another. We kept silent and watched the shadows of the trees on either side of the road collide with each other at the center, slanted at an angle so that they looked like arrows pointing up and beyond. Where were we going? I had no clue and neither did Kenny but it felt good. We were tired but we were fine. We were beyond the point of exhaustion but we kept a knowing smile plastered on our faces. And we just kept going.

The road curved and the houses became barbed wire fences fences. The road smoothed and the fences then became open patches of grass. Part of the sun poked out from behind the puffs of clouds and glared its bright ray directly into my eyes. I squinted, turning away to look out Kenny's window and there beyond the horizon the sky had turned blue. A dark yet offset blue. And just below were the mountains and trees that bordered the murky green pond.

I sat upright, feeling the soreness of my back reach down to my thighs. I grunted lowly, rubbing my forehead and adjusting my sight to the brightness of the newly coming rays of light. Kenny looked over me briefly, flashing me quirky smile.

"Could've sworn I saw you sleeping." He made a swift turn, towards Stark's pond.

"I don't know if I was." I mumbled, suddenly feeling so distant. I was tired, and I'll probably say that few more times. I could hardly remember every detail, let alone have the sureness of whether it all happened or not. There were facts, the things I knew for sure. One, I had tried looking for Tweek. Two, I never found him. And three, there was just no way at all I was ever going to get back with him. And then there were fuzzy details; events that I never thought would occur to me in my entire life. And I was drunk, so which part of myself did I really need to believe? Did we really get chased out of a bar by some punk? Did we really get kicked out of a mall for messing up a popcorn machine? What if this was a dream? With a little speck of panic I looked over at Kenny and saw the faded smudge of a flower on his cheek. Then I reached into my pocked and felt the texture of silky lace. The panty.

I let out a chuckle of disbelief and ran a hand through my hair. "Everything happened." I shook my head, pulling out the black lingerie from my pocket.

Kenny eyed me confusedly and grinned right when he saw the panty in my hand.

"Jesus, Craig why do you still have that thing?"

I shrugged chucking it onto his lap. "You told me to hold on to it. So I kept it safe for you."

It was a complete jerk-ass lie. I had no clue why I kept it, but hey, what a good comeback it served as. Kenny rolled his eyes, slowing the car to a stop near a curb.

"It was for Tweek, remember. I don't wear this kind of stuff." He laughed, flinging it back on my face.

"Throwing panties at people's faces, McCormick, really? Mature." I smirked, throwing it on the dashboard. It was a kiddish thing to do—throwing that thing back and forth like we were giddy five year olds too embarrassed to hold such a thing— but that's just how we were. And that's just _what_ were were—_foolish kids_.

"What are we doing here anyways?" I yawned, stretching uncomfortably in the small car. Kenny stared at the dashboard, narrowing his eyes in thought like something was processing in his mind. Again, all I could do was just sit and watch the subtle changes in his expression. There was just no telling in what he would and could say. He could've shrugged and changed his mind and pulled back out of the driveway. Or he could've suggested we just stayed in the car and chilled until god knows when. But no. Instead, he grinned and burst out with his light twittering laugh.

He reached for the panty and said, "Come on, let's head down to the pond."

I sat on the grass because my legs just couldn't bear to move. I felt like at any given moment I was going to pass out into a yearlong coma or something. My arms were the only thing keeping me upright and Kenny's odd actions were the only thing keeping my eyes from shutting close. He paced back and forth near the wet dirt where it met the water and kicked occasionally as if he was angry. He was not, though. "Just looking for some rocks, Craig" he said but who the hell wants rocks at…jesus, I didn't even know what time it was. Who wants rocks at the crack of dawn? I sure as hell wasn't going to skip no rocks.

"Finally." He cheered, and scurried back over to where I was, dropping to his knees and scattering all the little rocks near me.

"You're weird Kenny. You are _**really**_ weird." I yawned again. Sleep was really hitting in hard. I shook my head harshly.

"Poor you." Kenny smirked, slapping my cheek lightly with his warm palm. "Can't even pull an all-nighter."

"Fuck…you, McCormick. I haven't slept since Sunday night." It was true. How in the hell was I awake. What was sleep and where was my bed? I yawned once more, losing strength in my arms and falling back into the soft warm ground. I heard Kenny laugh and shift among the grass before feeling his side press against mine. He pulled his arms behind his head and let out a long sigh. I looked over, noticing there were no dark circles under his eyes. His skin was still smooth and peach with no tales of sleep-deprivation or even a simple hangover. After all, he must've had countless beers last night. But nope, here he was, wide eyed and looking at the sky with a faint smile, breathing slowly and peacefully like nothing even affected him.

This was Kenny. The guy who was constantly in deep shit with authority. The kid who wore key pendant necklaces and liked his bottles of beer with a side of cupcakes.

This was also the kid who was afraid to love. And with a broken heart I wasn't even sure he had fixed, here he was lying on the ground like there were thousands of sunsets worth waiting for, even if there was no one there to spend it with. I looked at myself and wished I was just like him. I wondered briefly where in this godforsaken town Tweek was sleeping. Was he in his bed? Or had he been with someone else? I wondered, for just a slight second, how everything would've been if he had woken up next to me. Thinking of it made my stomach clench in the slightest bit. And it angered me. How the hell could I be strong? Why couldn't I push him out and keep him out for good? I told myself that was what he was doing, if he hadn't done it already. I told myself when Tweek wakes up, in his head there would have never been an "us". I would just crumble like a memory and stay hidden in his past until I no longer meant any speck of significance. And that was the only place we would be allowed to exist. In hidden memories. In the past.

"I should take you home." I heard Kenny say and felt him sit upright. I looked over and he was playing with the rocks once more. Butters was just a hidden memory locked up in Kenny's past.

…or was it Kenny that became that long lost memory?

"I won't knock out on you. Promise." I smiled tiredly.

"But I think I will." Kenny laughed and took out the panty from his sweater's pocket.

"What are you doing with that?" I sat up, stretching my arms around my knees. A cool breeze swept in from the trees.

"This…" Kenny smirked and placed the rocks into the lingerie, pulling the sides around and tying it up at the top. I didn't get it. It was a panty-sack of rocks.

I rose a brow, holding back my laughter. "God Kenny, you're not right in the head. At all."

"Work of art, huh?" He chuckled, bouncing the sack in his hands with a smirk. "Come on, I'm gunna give you that second chance you wanted." He stood up heading towards the water.

"W-what?" I was baffled but scrambled to my feet to follow him.

He stood near the edge wear the water barely touched the soles of his shoes and continued bouncing the sack in his hands. "I told you to hold on to this, right?" He eyed me expectantly. "Why did you?"

I gave him a questioning look but his stare did not budge. "I uh…I don't know. No reason at all I guess."

"Wrong." He smiled. "I told you to buy Tweek lingerie. Then I took some poor girl's panty and gave it to you. So why did you keep it?"

"I told you." I shrugged. "No reason, dude."

"You took it, unconsciously, as a sign of hope."

I let out an involuntary chuckle. "What? That's ridiculous— really, what are you going to do with that?"

"I'm not going to do anything." Kenny shrugged and then pushed the panty into my hand. "What are you going to do with it?"

This, I can assure you, was the pivotal point of my adventure, journey, or whatever the hell it was that I was on. There, at that moment as Kenny dug his hands into his pockets and raised his brows at me expectantly. I was catching his drift. This was not merely a panty with rocks in my hand. Kenny saw it as a string of emotion connected between me and everything I knew, loved, and had with Tweek. Weird, definitely. The _strangest _of metaphors yet here I was holding a panty filled with rocks and all I could think about was the fact that I needed to get somewhere. I was stuck on the line that separated Tweek and me. I needed to get out and realize that Tweek was just not in the picture anymore.

"You can untie the knot, if you want." Kenny said, stepping in closer with a faint smile. "Throw the rocks and just keep it cause it reminds you of some silly remedy that could've fixed your broken heart. Something that could've brought you and Tweek back together." I looked over at him and realized he had stepped in a lot closer than I thought. "Or you could throw far into the pond and forget it ever existed in your life."

My body flushed warmly with something I thought was maybe excitement or anxiousness. I knew he was talking about Tweek. Forget not him, but "us". Throw it away and forget about because it was the only way it wouldn't leave a hole or a dent. I looked down at my hand, unsure.

"Do you want motivation?" I heard him say.

I looked back up but before I could respond he leaned in and pulled me into a kiss. It was a slow, steady kiss and it kept me still, briefly. That is, until he wrapped a hand around my neck; pulling me closer, clashing our lips deeply and not once did I think about the fact that his was Kenny; sober, smart-ass, arrogant Kenny who never in a thousand years would I've thought he'd considered doing something like this. But you know what, he was a damn good kisser. And this was all I needed at the moment. And this was what _he_ needed.

So I sighed with relief into our heated mouths and cupped his cool cheeks, keeping us close for a long while until I felt his lips grow warm and mine go numb. We pulled apart, letting our foreheads rest against one another while we caught our breath, breathing in the scent of the salty pond and the cold wind.

"What are you going to do?" He smirked faintly. I chuckled stepping back and facing the pond. I looked briefly at my hand. Then with one quick swift movement, I threw that fucking piece of clothing far into the water.

"Now how do you feel?" Kenny asked, patting my shoulder.

"That must've been the **dumbest** yet most _satisfying_ thing I've done." I shook my head with a grin.

He chuckled loudly. "But it must've felt good."

I looked over and ruffled his hair. "It felt better kissing you."

He snickered and swatted my hand away. "Come on, I have another case of cupcakes back at the apartment. Maybe after that and a little bit of sleep I could...I don't know, kiss your cheek or something."

I laughed, following him as he headed back towards the car. "I should go home. We're both tired."

He turned back, shaking his head as he bit his lip through a smile. "...No, you should come over."

I grinned. And that was where my night officially ended. Tuesday was gone and on it's way to becoming a speck of dust in my memory. Sure, Tweek was gone too, and had left this shallow hole I had yet to fill. But you know what? I wasn't worried about that. Because I agreed to come over for another case of cupcakes. And that night, we fell asleep on his couch watching reruns of Sex in the City.

Point being: Life isn't a movie and yeah, heartbreaks happen.

But sooner than later, you have to start again **_somewhere_**.

* * *

TH-THA-THAT'S ALL FOLKS! Lol, I know this was a short fic, but I hoped you guys enjoyed it and thank you all once again for such lovely reviews. I appreciate them all greatly. :3

In case anyone is interested, here is the mixtape that follows along to the fic

Track one: **Dawn of the Dead** by Does it offend you, yeah?

Track two: **Every Teardrop is a Waterfall** by Coldplay

Track three: **Animal** by Neon Trees

Track four: **Ottoman** by Vampire Weekend

Track five: **Astro Zombies** by Misfits

Track six: **Techno Fan** by The Wombats

Track seven: **The Joker** by Steve Miller Band

Track eight: **Let's Dance to Joy Division** by The Wombats


End file.
